Tauranga Coastguard was itself the subject of a rescue on Sunday afternoon when its radio operator collapsed in the Sulphur Point radio room.

Boats calling the centre could not raise the operator, says Coastguard operations manager Simon Barker.

'He's alright, he's out of hospital, but he's got a bit of a health issue,” says Simon, who is unsure if the man will return to active duty.

'We'll see how he goes – he's got a holiday coming up.

'He'll be away for a while anyway.

'He just got a bit of a health issue, nothing major. He's at home and he's resting.”

At the time of the incident the TECT Rescue boat was out on the water on a training exercise.

Simon says it returned to base to check why it was apparently unmanned, and another Coastguard radio operator, who was listening in at home, drove down to Sulphur Point.

'A lot of people came to his help, which was good, basically it was just a few people around, people from the coffee shop next door – so they helped out as well.

'We managed to get an ambulance to look after him and get him to hospital for a check up.”